The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry held a biotechnology hearing for the first time in 10 years Wednesday to discuss the future of food technology as the industry responds to increased demand, production challenges and consumers’ calls for a safe and transparent food supply.

Representatives from the U.S. dairy industry say it is “critical” that Congress solve the trade dispute over country-of-origin labeling (COOL) in order to block the progress of damaging new tariffs on dairy exports by Canada and Mexico.